Davis resident graduates Mental Health Court

Yolo County, California District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on Monday, June 11, 28-year-old Davis resident Jessie Tessler graduated from Mental Health Court in Department Six of the Yolo County Superior Court.

Mental Health Court is a minimum 18-month court-based treatment and monitoring system for adult offenders with serious mental illness. Mental Health Court is designed to increase the treatment engagement of the participants while reducing both arrests and jail time both during and after their involvement and participation in the program.

“Mental Health Court is a…court-based treatment and monitoring system for adult offenders with serious mental illness.”

“We are proud of our daughter for being the first woman to graduate from Mental Health Court after over two years of intensive work,” the young woman’s mother, Courtney Tessler, said. “Dealing with a dual diagnosis is an internal struggle that requires the empathy and expertise of professionals committed to learning and understanding what support is most effective. There is no quick remedy. Parents should never give up; just like the staff connected to Mental Health Court never gave up on our daughter.”

Her father, Stephen Tessler explained, “mental health treatment and the law is all over the news these days. There are many ways of delivering these needed services. The Mental Health Court is a terrific example of what that can look like. Jessie is the first woman to complete the Mental Health Court program. I hope her hard work will lead the way for the other struggling women to succeed in Mental Health Court.”

“Mental health treatment and law is all over the news these days.”

Jessie Tessler is the second Mental Health Court participant to graduate after entering the program with a Deferred Entry of Judgment instead of being placed on probation with a criminal conviction.

This new process allows an individual with no prior criminal history to participate in this program and graduate with no criminal convictions which often can be an impediment to future educational opportunities, employment and housing.

“As this program continues to be a successful way to address criminal justice involved individuals suffering from mental illness, we look to expand the use of DEJs as a form of Mental Health Court diversion.”